The Plan
What I'm building, and why now.
This isn't a get-rich-quick channel. It's a slow, honest build with a clear goal: leave the job on my terms, with something real waiting on the other side.
Replace the job, not just add to it
Side hustles are fine. I want more than that. The goal is work of my own that can carry me once I walk out the door, built while I still have a steady paycheck behind me.
Start with what I already have
I'm not starting from zero. Three decades of photography, design, branding and dealing with people is a lot of stock on the shelf. The trick is putting it to work instead of letting it collect dust.
AI does the back office
I don't have a team. I can use AI for the jobs a team would do: editing, captions, research, first drafts, organizing. I check everything, and nothing goes out without my OK.
The log is the resume
Nobody has to take my word for it. Every entry is a record of real work, dated and public. Over time, that record says more than any job title could.
Why now
The internet is filling up with content that no person really stands behind. Faceless videos, robot voices, the same advice recycled a thousand times. AI made that cheap and easy.
When fake gets cheap, real gets valuable.
A real face, a real story and real mistakes can't be cranked out by a machine. That's the one thing I have that nobody can copy, so that's what this channel is built on.
How I think about AI
I'm worried about what AI means for work. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't. But being worried and standing still don't have to go together.
So I'm learning it the way I learned a camera: by using it every day and paying attention to where it falls short. It's good at the repetitive stuff. It's bad at judgment, taste and knowing when something is off. Those happen to be the things that come with age.
On this channel I'll show you exactly how I use it, in plain English, mistakes included.
The rules I'm keeping
- Show the work, not just the wins.
- Say what I don't know.
- Every word goes out under my name, so I check every word.
- Keep the day job out of it. I work for the post office; the rest stays private.
- Make it useful. If it doesn't help someone, it doesn't need to be posted.
Building something of your own?
I'd like to hear about it. Questions and ideas for future entries are welcome, too.